HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-09-10 Parks & Rec Comm MinutesDraft Minutes☐
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Approved Date: 10/7/2019
Minutes
City Of Edina, Minnesota
Edina Parks & Recreation Commission
City Hall, Council Chambers
Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2019
7 p.m.
I. Call To Order
Chair Good called the meeting to order at 7 p.m.
II. Roll Call
Answering roll call were Commissioners Willette, Nelson, Strother, Dahlien, Good, McAwley, Miller,
Ites and Student Commissioners Osborne and Lelas
Absent: Commissioner McCormick
Staff present: Staff Liaison Perry Vetter, Recreation Supervisor Tiffany Bushland and Administrative
Coordinator Janet Canton.
III. Approval Of Meeting Agenda
Motion made by Miller to approve the meeting agenda. Motion seconded by McAwley.
Motion carried.
IV. Approval Of Meeting Minutes
Motion made by Strother to approve the Aug. 13, 2019 minutes. Motion seconded by Miller.
Motion carried.
V. Community Comment
None
Chair Good introduced the new Student Commissioner Zoe Lelas. Student Commissioner
Lelas took a few minutes to introduce herself to the commission.
VI. Reports/Recommendations
A. Update on Race and Equity Initiatives
Staff Liaison Vetter informed the commission that Heidi Lee, Race and Equity Coordinator, is
unable to attend tonight’s meeting but will be at their October meeting. Staff Liaison Vetter gave
the commission a few quick updates he had on the Race & Equity Initiatives.
Commissioners asked questions.
B. Policy on the Use of Pickleball Courts
Recreation Supervisor Bushland presented to the commission the Open Play Policy staff has put
together for the pickleball courts at Rosland Park. She gave the background on the complaints
they have received during the last few years in regards to the pickleball courts and what brought
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them to have this policy. She also noted that Edina is in the forefront of having a policy. It was
also indicated that all the tennis courts in Edina are also striped for pickleball.
Commissioners asked questions and provided feedback.
C. Edinborough Park Entrance Project -
Staff Liaison Vetter informed the commission that Edinborough Park is scheduled for a major
capital improvement project to renovate the south entrance to the facility. He explained the
primary purposes of the improvements are to address drainage improvements that impact the
facility entrance as well as the deterioration of the building materials. He also went through what
specifically needs to be done on the project.
Staff Liaison Vetter went through what the next steps are in the process and added the project is
anticipated to occur during the summer of 2020. He gave a presentation showing different
iterations of things that could be done. Staff Liaison Vetter indicated staff is looking for some
feedback from the commission on this project and will take that feedback to the City Council.
Commissioner Nelson indicated she would be happy to help on the steering committee.
Commissioners asked questions and made suggestions as well as gave their feedback.
D. Open Streets Discussion
The commission discussed who was going to be able to help at the Parks & Recreation
Commission booth for the Open Streets event on Sunday, Sept. 22 from 1-5 p.m. Also discussed
were ideas on what to display and hand out at the event.
Chair Good, Commissioners Strother, Miller and Osborne all volunteered to help at the Open
Streets event.
E. Parks & Recreation Commission Work Plan
Chair Good informed the commission they need to get a list of ideas together for the 2020
Work Plan. He will be presenting those ideas to the City Council at the Oct. 1 work session.
An update was given on the current initiatives:
Initiative 1 – Chair/co-chair a cross-commission committee to review the naming of a public facility in
the Grandview area after the BC and Ellen Yancey. Commissioner Dahlien informed the
commission he is still waiting to hear back from the Human Rights and Relations Commission;
his guess is that this initiative will continue into 2020.
Initiative 2 – Serve on a cross-commission committee in partnership with communities of color to
identify barriers for participation in programming. Commissioner Strother informed the
commission that Commissioner Osborne and herself met with a couple of commissioners from
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the Human Rights and Relations committee and came up with a proposal which is now in the
hands of the Human Rights and Relations Commission to decide whether or not it’s the
direction they want to go.
Initiative 3 – Chair-co-chair a cross-commission committee to develop a draft plan on Edina Grand
Rounds, including wayfinding. Commissioner Nelson informed the commission she thinks they are
at a place where they are almost ready to hand it over. She thinks it’s important for the
Transportation Committee to bring it to the Parks & Recreation Commission on what it is we
are planning on doing. Their first idea was how they can look at ways to improve the
communication in the website around what the parks actually offer. They have looked at
updating the maps to include all of the bike trails and walking trails. She thinks the biggest
opportunity before they finalize it is they should share it amongst the other commissions to
listen to what they have proposed. It was noted Andrew Scipioni, staff liaison to the
Transportation Commission, will give an update at a Parks & Recreation Commission meeting.
This initiative should be finished this year.
Initiative 4 – Complete a study and report for fields, courts and rinks capacity and utilization from
the data provided by staff. Chair Good informed the commission they have not moved forward
since last month. They have all of the data collected they just need to get the committee to
take a look at it and see if they can turn this into some kind of insight that they can then make a
recommendation or statement on going forward. This initiative should be finished this year.
Initiative 5 – Investigate possible alternative funding options to support future growth and
development of Edina’s parks, programs and green spaces. Commissioner Miller informed the
commission with the internal funding opportunity they are looking at can they leverage the
assets that they currently have to generate more revenue. The committee met with an outside
group that does this and then met with City Manager Scott Neal to see what he thought of the
idea. City Manager Neal informed the committee he thought it was a great idea to move along
and gave the committee some direction. The committee took that information to the outside
group and they should be hearing from the outside group in the next couple of days with what
they think they can do for us. Commissioner Miller feels for the internal part of this initiative it
could be done this year; however, the external/charitable funding part will go into next year.
Initiative 6 – Review and comment on the Race and Equity policy statement developed by city staff.
Commissioner Strother informed the commission that once staff has completed the policy
there should be enough time to review and comment on it before the end of the year. She is
hopeful this initiative will be completed this year.
Initiative 7 – Serve on a cross-commission committee to complete requirements for Edina to receive
the AARP City Designation. Commissioner Nelson informed the commission the committees are
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meeting tomorrow so hopefully she will have information to share at next month’s meeting.
She added because the Parks & Recreation Commission committee is not the lead on this
initiative she does not know the timing of it.
The commission had a discussion on possible work plan ideas for 2020 and came up with the
following:
Prioritize and take action on the following:
o Upgrading park playground equipment
o Upgrading park warming house assets
o Core park maintenance items
o Park to park connectivity opportunities
Review our commitment to / execution of our goal of 15% of Edina land dedicated to parks and
green spaces
Proactively assess conditions, quality and sustainability of parks, waterways and green space
Add trails (Comp Plan goal of 15-20 miles of new trails over 10 years)
Build community by proactively connect with neighborhood groups, developing nodes and
community athletic groups
Support Enterprise asset managers with strategic and operational plans
Revisit the Braemar Master Plan
Formalize the dog parks in terms of some of the infrastructure; look at a formal dog park at
Weber Woods
If the council puts the Grandview area as a work plan item be sure the council gives firm
operating guidelines around what it is they are looking for from the commission.
Fred Richards Plan
Investigate a 2020 referendum; wasn’t sure if that would be appropriate
Discuss natural buffer zones throughout the city; where in Edina those changes would be taking
place. Just some things surrounding the natural buffer and the addition of natural grasses and
things like that to green space
Develop and recommend an innovative approach to expand funding, operating and improve our
park system
Chair Good asked Staff Liaison Vetter to go through the list and do a quick cut at polishing and
prioritizing the top four or five items and some parking lot items. He asked him to then email
it to the commission to see if anything was missed or if there are any objections and then
Chair Good will present it to the City Council at the Oct. 1 council work session.
VII. Chair and Member Comments
• Chair Good informed the commission that the “Fall into the Arts Festival” at
Centennial Lakes was a good event; there were over 240 contributors.
• Chair Good informed the commission he recently went by Arden Park and noticed
some kids on the playground equipment which right now they probably should not be
playing on. He suggested putting in stronger fences and/or additional signage until the
playground is ready and safe for use.
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• Chair Good informed the commission he was at Highlands Park on Sunday watching
boy’s flag football and it looked like a great use of a public facility.
• Chair Good informed the commission that with all of the rain and flooding staff
Liaison Vetter and he discussed they need to think of a way to direct or warn people
about park path closures; especially at Bredesen Park where there tends to be more
flooding.
• Chair Good informed the commission that he went on the August Walk with the
Mayor at Centennial Lakes Park. The park was in great shape and they received a
number of very positive comments.
• Commissioner McAwley informed the commission a great job was done at Highlands
Park clearing out the buckthorn around the park; you can actually see into the park
right now and it looks a lot better.
• Commissioner Nelson informed the commission that at Arden Park the re-
meandering of the creek is awesome. Not just the clarity of it but it’s very pretty and
moves at a pretty rapid pace.
VIII. Staff Comments
Staff Liaison Vetter gave the following updates:
• There is no news on the vandalism reports at Utley Park; the partitions for the
restrooms are still on order.
• The Edina Crime Prevention Fund has been offering rewards for the graffiti that has
been happening; Staff Liaison Vetter will be attending a meeting next week on the
protocol of how to handle graffiti in the future.
• Arden Park is still under construction; however, the playground is in. They are
planning to do a soft opening for the hockey season for the history of the park; the
first year of hockey at Arden Park was in 1949.
• The container and site work is primarily done at Fred Richards Park on the eastern
edge where the playground will be going. They are going to have some kind of
opening celebration there this fall.
• Braemar Arena finished up the DaBeauty league for the summer; approximately
16,000 people attended those games.
• The east rink at Braemar Arena has been shut down for annual maintenance.
• Braemar Golf Course is having a great season even with the challenging weather.
There were approximately 18,500 18-hole rounds on the championship course,
13,000 9-hole rounds of golf on the championship course, 18,800 rounds on the
Academy Nine and there were 42,000 golf range buckets sold.
• The Aquatic Center had a successful year despite the weather struggles; there were
39,000 daily admissions and 45,000 member check-ins – a 23% increase in member
visits.
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• The lawn bowling area at Centennial Lakes is being converted into Scottish putting
and it is starting to take shape.
• There is now a revised version of the park finder on the city’s website; this version
should be easier to use.
• People can now sign up to receive text notifications in addition to emails; one of the
primary purposes is for the weather related closure of fields for games, etc.
• The September Walk with the Mayor at Rosland Park has been cancelled. The next
Walk with the Mayor will be held on Oct. 19 at Arden Park.
• As a reminder, the October Parks & Recreation Commission meeting is scheduled
for Monday, Oct. 7.
IX. Adjournment
Motion made by McAwley to adjourn the Sept. 10, 2019 meeting at 8:43 p.m. Motion
seconded by Miller. Motion carried.